Mitchell: Seeking Foreign Policy Advice, Obama Invited MSNBC Regulars to Dinner

Today on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," host Andrea Mitchell noted that the various foreign policy experts President Obama convened at dinner last night looked a lot like a typical guest line-up on her show. The Associated Press's Julie Pace remarked that seeking their advice "was a pretty unusual thing to do" since in the past he's criticized the "Washington chattering class," which he defines as "people who tend to comment from the outside." 

MITCHELL: "Reaching out: Widely criticized for ignoring outside advice in the past, President Obama had a wide-ranging dinner last night with foreign experts from both sides of the aisle. He and Joe Biden brought in Sandy Berger, Zbigniew Brzesinsky, Tom Donilon, Michelle Flournoy, Richard Haas, Steve Hadley, Jane Harman, Strobe Talbot -- looks like a review of our guest list here at 'Andrea Mitchell Reports.' Today House Speaker John Boehner brought in his own consultant -- Dick Cheney -- to brief House Republicans. Joining me now is MSNBC contributor and managing editor of PostPolitics.com, Chris Cillizza. And White House correspondent for the Associated Press, Julie Pace. Julie, why did the president finally reach out and bring in all of the different voices on foreign policy?"
PACE: "It was a pretty unusual thing for the president to do. Not only does he not typically reach out to folks like this, he has actually criticized what he calls 'the Washington chattering class,' people who tend to comment from the outside. So this was a real attempt by the president to bring those people into the fold, let them hear directly from him. Also, hear from them, get some advice. A lot of these people on the list, who as you said are great guests on your show, are people who have been through a lot. And they might actually have some advice that he could learn from."